


snowbound!

by thunderylee



Category: Arashi (Band), KAT-TUN (Band), Kanjani8 (Band), KinKi Kids, NewS (Band), Tackey & Tsubasa
Genre: Canon Universe, Humor, M/M, boykissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-25
Updated: 2007-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-07 15:26:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12844056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunderylee/pseuds/thunderylee
Summary: Christmas at Tokyo Dome.





	snowbound!

**Author's Note:**

> reposted from agck.

“‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the Dome, idols are dancing, even the gnomes!”

“Shut up, Jin,” Koki mutters from across the dressing room, stretching as much as he can with three layers of costume on.

“No, see, the juniors are like gnomes,” Jin explains. “Because they’re so little -”

“ _Shut up, Jin_ ,” Koki says again, chorused by Junno and Ueda.

Kame turns to glance out the window, his face paling. “It’s snowing.”

“It’s _December_ ,” Koki snaps bitterly. “Of course it’s snowing.”

“No, I mean.” Kame gulps. “It’s really coming down.”

Ueda races to join him at the window, immediately putting his head in his hands. “I cannot be stranded here. My worst nightmare is being stuck in a room with Akanishi.”

“We’ll be fine,” says Maru positively. “It should let up by the time we’re done.”

“Stupid Koichi and his stupid idea for a stupid Christmas special,” Koki grumbles.

“Although you have to admit,” Jin says with a smirk, “naming the show ‘I’m Dreaming of a KinKi Christmas’ is a great marketing strategy.”

Ueda, being the only other person in the room with a general grasp of the English language, snorts appropriately. “I’d be a little disappointed.”

Reluctantly, Kame tears his eyes away from the outside world and claps his hands together. “All right, guys, let’s get back to -”

And that’s when the power goes out.

~*~*~*~

“I don’t see why _we’re_ the designated leaders here,” Koichi mumbles from the main backstage area, surveying the large group of juniors who are all looking at him for direction.

“We have seniority,” Tsuyoshi replies simply. “The older groups rehearsed earlier today and the staff are busy trying to get us light and food.”

“Why do you have to be so logical?!” Koichi explodes.

“Because somebody has to counteract you!” Tsuyoshi roars back.

The juniors watch with interest.

“You’re not being a good influence,” Koichi hisses.

“All right,” says Tsuyoshi calmly. “Who has the loudest voice here?”

“What does that have to do with -”

“Akanishi!” Tsuyoshi calls out, seeing Jin wandering around aimlessly in the dark.

Koichi seethes.

Forty-five seconds later, the panicked chatter is pierced with a booming “EVERYBODY GET YOUR ASSES OUT TO THE STAGE RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!”

“Well, that’s one way of doing it,” Koichi says with a shrug, following the leader.

~*~*~*~

“So what you’re saying is,” Ryo says loudly, “we’re stuck here until morning?”

“Yes,” Tsuyoshi replies in his sempai voice.

“All of us?” squeaks Tegoshi.

Tsuyoshi nods. “Yes.”

Close to fifty idols exchange glances nervously. Kanjani8 cheer.

“Don’t worry!” Koyama jumps up, jogging towards the center of the giant circle of boys and grinning like he’s high. “It will be fun, okay? We’ll play games and tell stories and it will be like a big sleepover!”

The debuted group members roll their eyes but plaster on their stage faces for the juniors. Except for Arashi, who are deeply involved in their five-man tournament of thumb wars.

“If anyone would like to contact their parents, I’m sure there are enough cell phones to go around.” Tsuyoshi looks pointedly at the older idols. “Call while you can, because they’re saying the storm is bad enough to block signals in a few hours.”

“The power isn’t expected to come back on tonight,” Koichi adds in his booming MC voice. “This includes the heat. There should be enough blankets for everyone, but it’s still going to be very cold. Try your best to cope and not annoy me.”

“In order to keep you all accounted for,” Tsuyoshi goes on, “we’re going to ask that you stay with your respective groups -” Ueda groans audibly “- and if you have to leave your group for any reason, make sure the others know. We don’t want to lose anyone and most of all, we don’t want anyone trying to brave the storm and go home.”

A small junior raises his hand. “What if we don’t have a group?”

“The juniors who don’t have a group make up their own group,” Koyama supplies, looking nervously between both Domotos. They nod and he sighs in relief. “You guys can hang out with me -”

“I’ll help!” volunteers Junno, who happily abandons his gloomy-looking bandmates and flails towards Koyama.

“Thank _god_.” Koichi coughs to cover up his outburst, but it’s no big secret that he’s grateful to not have to chase after a bunch of hyped-up teenagers all night. “Koyama-kun and Taguchi-kun will be in charge of the juniors, then.”

“Hai!” Koyama and Taguchi holler back, both grinning infectiously.

Tsuyoshi puts on a hard face and eyes the of-age idols suspiciously. “The rest of us are all adults here, and while I can’t kick all of your asses, _my_ sempai can and will if I ask them to. So behave and don’t do anything stupid.” His gaze lands pointedly on Jin.

Jin runs his tongue across his lips and winks.

The steam blowing from Koichi’s ears is almost visible.

“Can we go outside?” asks Koyama hopefully, bouncing up and down like a child.

“ _You_ can do whatever you want,” Koichi answers carelessly. “But while the Jimusho is responsible for everyone who’s underage, those people will not be allowed to leave the building.” He narrows his eyes at Koyama. “And if you get sick and ruin my show, I’ll ‘take care’ of you myself.”

All six letters of KAT-TUN cringe in memory, although the first T looks a little guilty.

“Kouchan,” says Tsuyoshi slowly. “It’s Christmas Eve.”

“What, do you want me to say it with a smile?” Koichi turns to Koyama and puts on his brightest grin, speaking in an upbeat voice. “If you get sick and ruin -”

Koyama giggles. “Relax, Koichi-san. I’ll be fine. I had my flu shot.”

Koichi does not look convinced.

“One more thing.” Tsuyoshi grins sardonically. “The leaders of all groups will be held accountable for all of their members, no matter what happens.”

Ueda tries to choke himself with the tie of his costume.

Yamapi turns to the rest of NewS and gives them his Serious Business face. Tegoshi laughs at him while Ryo rolls his eyes and loudly claims K8 for the night.

Ohno yells “Respect my authority!” and gets tickle-attacked by eight hands.

Kanjani8 jankenpon to see who will be their leader today, and Subaru does a victory dance when he wins. “Your asses are _mine_ ,” he declares to the other members, who whoop and breakdance.

“I will never understand those guys,” Kame mutters to Nakamaru, who shakes his head in amazement.

“Who’s the leader out of you two?” Tegoshi asks KinKi, his eyes twinkling with shit instigation.

“Me,” both Koichi and Tsuyoshi reply, then glare at each other.

Takki and Tsubasa exchange a knowing look and stifle their laughter.

~*~*~*~

“I’m hungry,” Yamapi whines, curling up into a ball with himself.

“It’ll be okay,” Tegoshi says happily, lounging on Massu and making X-rated shadow puppets in the nearby candlelight. “If we run out of food, we can just eat the juniors.”

Yamapi cracks up, and a nearby junior squeaks and runs for Koyama-sempai, who’s entirely not amused and makes Tegoshi apologize. “Besides,” Koyama adds, “it would make much more sense to eat Yamapi. He could probably feed our entire group.”

“Hey!” Yamapi cries.

“He has a point,” says Tegoshi. “We could have, like, Pi-burgers and fries.”

“Spaghetti and Pi-balls!” Massu exclaims, then realizes how dirty that sounds and falls over laughing.

Yamapi is eternally grateful when the staff manages to salvage the leftover lunch catering.

~*~*~*~

“It. Is. Fucking. Cold,” Koki sputters, his teeth chattering. “I have on _three layers of clothing_ and I’m freezing my balls off.”

“That’s because you’re so skinny,” Jin spouts off with the air of someone who knows what he’s talking about.

“You must be burning up, then,” retorts Koki. “Fatass.”

“This fatass has both balls comfortably attached,” Jin replies with a shrug.

Kame snorts and gestures across the room. “We could always take a leaf out of Arashi’s book.”

Five heads swivel towards where Arashi has spread out their coats as a makeshift blanket and lay in a giant pile of bodies, braiding each other’s hair and singing their own songs with absolutely no harmony.

“I lied earlier,” says Ueda slowly. “ _That_ is my worst nightmare.”

“I doubt you skinny bitches could conjure up any kind of body heat even if you were _orgying_ ,” says Jin.

“Ew,” gags Kame.

“Don’t be gross, Jin,” says Junno, wrinkling his nose.

Maru looks thoughtful. “Since when is ‘orgy’ a verb?”

“It’s always been a verb,” Jin says knowingly.

“Has not,” argues Ueda. “It’s a noun. You’re ‘having an orgy’ not ‘orgying’.”

“No, you’re orgying,” insists Jin.

“Who’s orgying?” comes the voice of an amused Nishikido Ryo.

Ueda’s eyes narrow in extreme loathe.

“ _See_ ,” says Jin pointedly.

Kame points. “Arashi are.”

Ryo looks. “You can’t orgy with your clothes on, dumbass.” He sighs. “At least they’re keeping it PG-13 rated in front of the kids.”

~*~*~*~

“I’m _bored_ ,” Tegoshi whines.

Yamapi’s eyes flick upwards. “Want to bet me that I can’t make Ryo-chan run like a scared little girl?”

Tegoshi considers this for about two seconds. “You’re on.”

Yamapi smirks and pulls aside some random junior who’s running by and whispers something in his ear. The kid’s eyes go wide, but Yamapi holds a finger to his lips and nobody dares to disobey Yamashita-sempai. The kid flits off and Tegoshi watches curiously as he runs up to Arashi and says something to MatsuJun that makes the other four howl in laughter while Jun gets to his feet, shooting lethal glances around the room until his eyes land on Ryo.

The next thing anyone knows, Ryo’s racing around the Dome, squealing in fear with a really pissed-off MatsuJun on his heels. Ueda is rolling in laughter, Subaru and Yoko are drawing up intricate plans to pants MatsuJun when he least expects it (with help from Nino, just because he’s bored), and Aiba’s on Jun’s back trying to get him to stop because “you can’t hurt the cute ones, MatsuJun-chan!”

Tegoshi shakes his head. “Nice. How’d you do it?”

“ _I’ll never tell_ ,” Yamapi says in an eerie girlie voice.

Five minutes later, Tegoshi notices the same kid surrounded by some others, discussing something in great secret. Koyama walks by and picks up a word that sparks his attention and has him confronting the group, looking more and more unimpressed until he grabs the junior by the collar and drags him over to Yamapi.

“Yamashita,” Koyama says sternly, holding the boy out in front of him like a shield. “Did you use this small child to get MatsuJun mad at Ryo?”

“I sure did,” Yamapi replies, smiling brilliantly.

“You realize Ryo’s going to kill you when he finds out, right?” Koyama goes on.

Yamapi scoffs. “Ryo has said that he’s going to kill me four thousand and two times this _year_. Forgive me for not taking you seriously.”

“Koyama-sempai?” says the kid. “What’s ‘ass-to-mouth’, and why does Nishikido-sempai think that Matsumoto-sempai does it the best out of everyone?”

Koyama’s glare makes _Tegoshi_ cringe. “You were misinformed,” Koyama says evenly. “Clearly Yamashita here would be most knowledgeable on that topic.”

“Ooh, burn,” Yamapi replies with a wink. “Small child,” he addresses the junior, “I was about your age when _my_ sempai informed me of everything a man needs to know -”

“Complete with demonstrations,” Koyama jumps in.

Yamapi ignores him. “- so I think that you should go find your favorite sempai and ask him to tell you _everything_!”

The kid nods and runs off, calling out, “Kamenashi-sempai!”

Koyama closes his eyes and snorts. “Okay, now _that’s_ funny.”

“Still bored?” Yamapi asks Tegoshi.

Tegoshi waves him off in favor of witnessing Kame’s shrill cry and the rest of AT-TUN’s hysterical laughter as Kame’s face greatly resembles a tomato and Jin loudly declares, “Oh, please. Ugly MatsuJun doesn’t have _shit_ on me!”

Jun of course hears this and now Jin is the one being chased around the stage. Ryo collapses in a heap next to Yamapi, managing to look grateful and irritated at the same time, and he has just enough energy left to poke Yamapi in the knee and wheeze, “I’m going to kill you.”

Yamapi quickly pulls Tegoshi into his lap. “You wouldn’t harm this incredibly adorable barely legal young man in order to get to me, would you?”

“Ryo-tan,” Tegoshi says in his cute voice, fluttering his eyelashes and making no effort to leave the warmth of Yamapi’s embrace. “Yamapi only did it because I was bored. He’s such a thoughtful friend, isn’t he?”

Ryo’s head drops into his arms and he groans. “Eighty percent of this establishment owe the continuation of their lives to you, Tego-nyan.”

“More like ninety,” Massu mutters from nearby.

“Ninety-seven point five,” corrects Yamapi. “That’s about all of us minus K8.”

“So I’m like,” Tegoshi says, pausing for dramatic effect, “a guardian angel!”

“Something like that,” Ryo mumbles.

“With horns,” Massu adds.

Yamapi snorts. “And a tail.”

“Hey!” Tegoshi squawks indignantly, but really he’s scouring the group to see who else he can make MatsuJun chase down.

~*~*~*~

Shige looks up from his text book, which he’s reading by candlelight. “Is _what_ a verb?”

“Orgy,” Jin says simply, a little out of breath. “You know, like having sex with -”

“I know what an orgy is!” Shige says a little too loudly. He feigns confusion as 6/7ths of Kanjani8’s ears perk up and eye him in a way that he doesn’t think the remaining 1/7th would approve of.

“Well, is it?”

“ _No_ ,” he mutters through his teeth. “It’s a noun, not a verb.”

“So you’re ‘having an orgy’?” Jin scrunches his nose up, puzzled. “Not ‘orgying’?”

“Yes,” Shige says exasperatedly. “‘Having an orgy’.”

“Who’s having an orgy?” Takki asks excitedly as he saunters up. “Trying to organize a group activity, Kato-kun? I’m in.”

Shige’s mouth opens, then closes without saying anything. He just stands there, staring at Takki and Jin before spinning on his heel and running in the opposite direction.

Which is – he realizes when it’s too late to turn back – directly towards 7/7ths of Kanjani8.

~*~*~*~

“Did you hear?” Nino flails, dive-bombing on top of the Arashi mountain and fluffing Aiba’s stomach like it’s a pillow. “Someone was jerking off in the bathroom.”

“No _way_ ,” Ohno replies, completely in awe. “Who do you think it was?”

“Well, it _wasn’t_ a junior,” Nino says knowledgably, like he was there. “The voice was too deep. But Akanishi said -”

“ _Akanishi_ witnessed this?” Jun snorts. “It was probably _him_.”

“Why would he go around telling everyone about it, then?” Sho says sensibly, looking incredibly comfortable despite being at the bottom of the pile. “Like speaking-voice deep or grunting deep?”

“Does it make a difference?” Jun asks.

“Yes, because there are only two people here who have naturally low voices,” Sho explains. “Passing over me, of course.”

Five heads turn to look at Kato Shigeaki, who looks like he’d rather be anywhere else than in the Kanjani8 circle of love, and Aiba bursts out laughing. “No way it was that guy. I don’t think he would know what to do with it.”

Next is Imai Tsubasa, who’s hanging out with the Domotos and having what looks to be a very grown-up and profound conversation.

“Couldn’t have been him either,” Nino says. “Everyone knows that Takki takes care of his Tsubon. They would have been in there together.”

“Sou,” the others agree.

“Are we ruling out the possibility that there were two people?” Sho asks. “Maybe one of them had his feet on the toilet seat…”

“It was definitely one person,” Nino says.

Ohno gasps. “It was _you_!” he exclaims, pointing an accusatory finger in Nino’s face.

“Please,” Nino scoffs, almost offended. “Since when do I need privacy for that?”

It’s a valid point, one which settles the discussion, especially when Nino blows a raspberry on Aiba’s stomach and Aiba squeals loud enough to scare the juniors.

~*~*~*~

Tsubasa leans back against the first row of seats and watches as Koyama leads about ten very young juniors in a game of something or other that keeps them from crying. He hopes that it’s not entirely inappropriate, but knowing Koyama, it probably is. “Do you remember being that young?” he asks his companions.

Koichi and Tsuyoshi exchange a look. “I remember, yes,” Koichi replies, “but I don’t think I was ever that whiny.”

“Of course you were,” Tsuyoshi interjects.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Koichi says in a voice that implies he knows exactly what Tsuyoshi’s talking about.

“You should have seen this guy,” Tsuyoshi goes on, leaning up on his knees to tell the story properly. “He was so scared to go anywhere by himself. He would always tell me, ‘I’m so glad we’re paired together, Tsuyoshi-kun! I would be lost if it wasn’t for you!'”

Tsubasa laughs appropriately and chances a sideglance to Koichi. The flash of truth on his face before his mask takes over clues Tsubasa as to the actual meaning of those words that were spoken so long ago.

“ _You_ were so shy that you wouldn’t have had any friends if it wasn’t for me,” Koichi finally says, like he had been Mr. Popularity at thirteen.

“And you would have died from exhaustion back in ’04 if it wasn’t for me,” Tsuyoshi retorts, looking pretty pleased with himself.

“Oh, you’re going to play the ‘I saved your life’ card, huh?” Koichi folds his arms and regards Tsuyoshi through his eyelashes. “Who got you _laid_ for the first time?”

“I hardly feel that I should _thank_ you for that.” Tsuyoshi makes a face. “I’m lucky I didn’t get any weird diseases from that girl.”

“That’s all right,” Koichi says with a wicked grin. “Just remember who got your first kiss.”

“How can I forget,” Tsuyoshi responds pointedly. “You _keep reminding me_.”

Tsubasa chuckles a little uncomfortably. “I wonder if Hide-kun and I will act like you two when we’ve been together as long.”

“I hope not,” Tsuyoshi says with a cringe. “You don’t have nearly as much tolerance as I do.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Koichi squawks.

“It means exactly what you think it means,” Tsuyoshi barks back.

“I am not _nearly_ as big of a whore as Takizawa,” Koichi says, not bothering to keep his voice down.

“Bullshit!” hollers Takki from across the room.

Koichi rolls his eyes and yells at the top of his lungs, “Everybody present tonight who has messed around in an inappropriate manner with Takizawa Hideaki please raise your hand!”

Yamapi’s hand is the first in the air, pumping his fist like he just won a big prize, and about fifteen others tentatively shoot up, including most of Kanjani8 and even a few juniors. Koichi gives Takki a look of disgust.

“Okay,” says Takki, pushing himself up on the balls of his feet as he talks. “Now for Domoto Koichi.”

All of KAT-TUN raise their hand, along with half of NewS (“I was of age, I swear!” Tegoshi cries, followed by Kame’s muttered “I wasn’t”), all of Kanjani8 (“Why do you have two hands up, Ryo-chan?” “Uchi counts, dammit!”), both Takki and Tsubasa, and Koichi turns around to see Tsuyoshi traitorously waving a finger as well.

Koichi smirks. “You will notice there are no _juniors_ ,” he says pointedly.

“Because they all grew up!” Takki explodes.

Over in the Arashi corner, Nino watches the screaming match intently. “What have I been missing out on?”

“What does this have to do with anything?” Tsuyoshi asks Koichi.

“It’s my only fault!” Koichi declares. “Other than being a little promiscuous, I am an _angel_.”

Tsuyoshi laughs so hard that he falls backwards, clutching his stomach. “Who has been lying to you?”

Tsubasa takes the opportunity to leave, deciding that playing baby-sitter with Koyama is more enticing than getting in the middle of a KinKi fight. Those Kansai men are ruthless.

“Did you hear?” Koyama greets him. “Someone got busted whacking it in the bathroom!”

The juniors are in hysterics behind him.

Tsubasa rolls his eyes and thinks that watching Tegoshi feed Massu (with his _fingers_ ) is the safest place to be.

~*~*~*~

“Psst,” Maru hisses to Ueda. “Look.”

Ueda follows Maru’s subtle gesturing and sees two juniors starting to fall asleep, one’s head on the other one’s stomach while the first one absently runs his fingers through the second one’s hair.

“Aww,” Ueda says, offering a rare smile. “It’s nice that they’re so close. They’re probably scared out of their minds.”

The smirk on Maru’s face is eerie in the candlelight. “Remind you of anyone?”

It takes Ueda a second, then he laughs and shifts his gaze over to Jin and Kame. “But they’re not trying to choke each other.”

“Think back farther,” Maru presses.

Ueda smiles fondly. “Yeah, I remember.”

“I kind of miss being a junior,” Maru admits with a sigh. “We were all just having fun instead of trying to impress everyone all the time.”

“Kamenashi has always tried to impress everyone,” Ueda points out.

Maru chuckles. “Yeah, and he started with Jin.”

~*~*~*~

“It is _fucking_ cold out here,” Shige says, clinging to his coat.

Koyama exhales his drag and gives Shige an amused look. “You didn’t have to come out with me. And since when do you swear?”

“Since my balls have relocated to my throat,” Shige replies. “And you were the one who instated the whole ‘buddy system’ thing.”

“I said that to the _juniors_ ,” Koyama clarifies. “I think I can step outside for a smoke without losing my way.”

“Hmrph.” Shige looks out at the empty streets of Tokyo, covered in white. “It’s so pretty out here.”

“And cold,” Koyama adds knowingly.

“And cold,” Shige agrees, smiling despite himself. “This is kind of fun. Considering.”

“Yeah it is.” Koyama smokes thoughtfully, contemplating the starry sky as he sighs. “We’re kind of screwed for tomorrow’s show, though.”

“We’ll be fine,” says Shige. “Although I don’t think I’ll get what I wanted for Christmas.”

“What’s that?”

Shige looks down at the snow-covered ground. “I wanted Uchi and Notti to come back.”

Koyama frowns. “Me too. I miss those guys.”

They stand in silence as Koyama sucks down the rest of his cigarette and starts to head inside. When Shige doesn’t follow him, he turns back to see Shige rooted to his spot, staring out in the distance.

“Shige?”

“I’m frozen,” Shige says quietly. “I don’t think I can move.”

Rolling his eyes, Koyama breaks into a run and tackles Shige, knocking him into a large drift and nestling comfortably on top of him.

“Kei!” Shige squeals. “I’m _freezing_ , and now there is snow all over my back!”

Koyama grabs both of Shige’s arms and extends them, moving them up and down in the snow as he grins down at him. “KoyaShige angels!”

Shige can’t help but laugh, because he knows that when he catches pneumonia, Koyama will be the first one to bring him chicken soup.

~*~*~*~

Jin shrieks when he’s attacked from behind, but luckily he realizes it’s Yamapi before he flips him fake-wrestling-style.

A young junior cries in the distance and Junno shoots Jin a nasty look. Half of Kanjani8 glare at him as well, just because he interrupted their peaceful Osaka lullabies.

“Merry Christmas,” Yamapi says in English, holding out a badly wrapped package. “It’s a little early, but it’s either this or watch Massu try to give dance lessons in the dark.”

“You brought my present with you to rehearsal?” Jin asks in disbelief, accepting the gift and patting his pockets like his own gift for Yamapi would mysteriously appear. “Yours is at home…”

“It’s okay.” Yamapi shoves the box into Jin’s hands and leans down to add, “You might want to open it in private…”

Jin’s face lights up. “Ooh, a _dirty_ present.”

Yamapi smacks him on the head. “No, you pervert. It’s… well, you’d have some explaining to do if one of the juniors saw it.”

“They’re sleeping,” Jin points out, but drags Yamapi into a dark corner anyway. He silently tears at the paper and peers inside the box, his hand slapping to his mouth to muffle his laughter when he figures out what it is. “Oh, Yamapi,” he says sarcastically, “you really shouldn’t have.”

Yamapi frowns. “You don’t like it?”

“Of course I like it,” Jin hisses. “I’ll just never be able to wear it unless… you know… I’m Jinnifer.”

“That’s the point,” says Yamapi. “I think Jinnifer is a little lacking in the accessory department, and that’s just not acceptable for a woman of her standards -”

“Will you stop talking about her like she’s a separate person,” Jin interrupts, rolling his eyes. “She is me. I am her. And we both thank you for the thoughtful gift, although I kind of wish you didn’t have it engraved.”

“Why, what’s wrong with it?” Yamapi grabbed the chain and tried to read the English letters. “Did I spell it wrong?”

“No,” Jin says slowly, an amused smile tinting his lips. “It’s just that ‘Pi’s Sweet Bitch’ kind of has a negative connotation to it that I don’t think you want to advertise.”

Yamapi looks confused.

“It implies that I’m your girlfriend,” Jin explains.

“What’s negative about that?” Yamapi asks incredulously. “I would totally date Jinnifer if she, you know, was really a girl.”

Jin blinks. “That’s so… fucked up.”

Yamapi reaches for the box with his eyes low. “I’ll take it back. Don’t worry about it.”

“No,” Jin says strongly, snatching the box to his chest. “I like it. I’ll wear it. I just want you to understand what it means.”

“Would it make you feel better if I got myself one that says ‘Jin’s Sweet Bitch’?” Yamapi asks.

“Actually, yes. That would make everything so much better.”

“Done.” Yamapi holds out his hand for their super awesome best friends’ handshake and grins.

Ordinarily Jin would be sad that Yamapi doesn’t like him as a boy, but the thought of what Ryo will say when he sees his present’s counterpart around Yamapi’s neck is amusing enough to keep the smile on his face.

~*~*~*~

It’s not like Koki to miss out on an impromptu karaoke session of KinKi Kids’ more embarrassing songs (“Flowers of love? How gay is that?” “This coming from the guy who sang an entire song about his mommy’s _soup_ ” “Oh yeah, well at least I’m not the _girl_ ranger”), so Maru’s a little bit worried when he’s nowhere to be found by the time they make it to the D Album.

“Do you know where Koki is?” Maru hisses to Kame, who’s preoccupied and damn near in hysterics at the gradual progression of rage on Koichi’s face as Tsuyoshi blames him for Natsu no Ousama.

“Last I heard, he was bitching about being cold,” Kame says carelessly.

“That was _three hours ago_ ,” Maru points out.

Kame shrugs. He’s no help.

“Well, if anyone cares, I’m going to look for him,” Maru says loudly.

Kame grunts noncommittally and snorts at Aiba and MatsuJun’s overexaggerated yet accurate portrayal of the Jounetsu dance.

Rolling his eyes, Maru makes his way around the different levels of the stage, peering in dark corners and witnessing more than a few sights that make him want to bleach his eyes. Whoever’s bright idea it was to stick them all in a room with minimal lighting was either really stupid or a huge pervert.

Maru _hears_ Koki before he sees him, audibly shivering despite wearing two coats with a thick blanket covering every part of him but his face. “Aw, who gave you their coat?”

“You did,” Koki says. “Thanks.”

Maru thought the one on top looked familiar. “Um, you’re welcome. Are you really that cold?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Koki hisses. “You’d think they could get a portable space heater in here or something. It’s the fucking _Tokyo Dome_. I’m too famous to die of hypothermia.”

“Oh, come off it.” Maru squats down beside him and wraps his arms around Koki’s shoulders, chuckling when Koki flinches. “Relax. Not everyone who touches you is trying to get in your pants.”

“I should punch you,” mutters Koki, but his voice is more even and he’s shaking less.

“I’m warm, aren’t I,” Maru says knowingly, pressing his face into Koki’s freezing neck.

“You’re like a fucking human heat generator.” Koki leans back into Maru’s embrace, making a soft noise of content. “How is that possible? You’re so thin.”

“Must be the nose,” Maru jokes, tugging at Koki’s blanket. “You need to share or _I’m_ going to get cold. You’re sucking up all of my body heat.”

“Needy bastard,” Koki says under his breath, but he gives up enough of the blanket for Maru to slip inside.

Maru keeps his comments to himself as he manages to work his way under all of the layers to hold Koki directly. He’s a little surprised when Koki doesn’t protest, but then figures that he’s probably just _that_ cold.

The minute Koki’s skin starts to warm up, he falls asleep. Maru frowns, disappointed that he won’t get to see what’s sure to be an eventful evening that ranks up there with all the other times in the history of JE that will never be spoken of again (like Tegoshi’s birthday), but when it comes down to it, he really doesn’t mind.

The reasons for which can be freaked out upon tomorrow.

~*~*~*~

“Ano… Koichi-san?”

Koichi spins around at the all too familiar voice and can’t help but look surprised. “Akanishi.”

Jin gulps. “Um. How are you?”

There’s quite a crowd of spectators, for Koichi and Jin having a civil conversation is considerably more important than gossiping over who was masturbating in the bathroom. In lieu of Koki and Maru’s absence, Nino immediately starts taking bets on the inevitable fight.

“Can’t complain,” Koichi replies honestly, every one of his nerves on edge. “What do you want?”

Jin scratches his head and stares at the floor for a few seconds, then drops to his knees in a full-on pleading bow. “I’m sorry, Koichi-san! I was so mean to you. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for you, and I wish I could take back every single one of the nasty things I said about you.”

There’s a collective gasp, and Koichi’s heart bursts. “Jin…”

“Please forgive me!” Jin screams, lifting his head to reveal wet eyes that shine in the dim light. “I hate myself for being the reason why there’s such a gap between our groups. I hate that our fans hate each other because of what I said. I’m sorry, so sorry. It’s all I thought about in America, how maybe I wouldn’t have fucked up had I had proper guidance from my favorite sempai. It’s taken me this long to approach you, and I’m sorry for that too. I’m sorry for _everything_. I want my sempai back. Please forgive me, Koichi-san.”

“Jin, get up.” Koichi’s more than choked up, but he’s a good enough actor that it only shows in his eyes, which follow Jin’s as he reluctantly stands up and bows his head like he’s sixteen again and getting scolded for dancing too sluttily. “Did Tsuyoshi put you up to this?”

Jin looks offended. “No! I thought of it all on my own!”

Tsuyoshi rolls his eyes. “Because I _care_ about your shit.”

Koichi waves him off and focuses on Jin. “Of course I forgive you, you insufferable pain in my ass. But you’re too old for a sempai.”

“Only in age,” Jin says quietly, sadly. “Ask anyone – I’m still a big kid.” He gives Koichi big eyes. “Please?”

“Fine,” Koichi says bitterly, but he’s much more relaxed. “Welcome back, Jin.”

In an instant Jin has closed the distance between them, glomping Koichi like a big dog would greet its owner. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear that, Koichi-sempai!”

Kame’s next, tears in his eyes as he flails across the room and throws his arms around both Koichi and Jin, sobbing into Jin’s hair. “I missed my sempai too,” he whimpers. “Stupid Jin didn’t think about the rest of us being affected by this.”

“Shut up, ass-kiss,” Jin hisses.

Kame kicks him in the shin.

“Knock it off, you two!” Koichi roars, smacking them both in the head. “This was much easier when you were smaller than me,” he adds.

“I’ve always been bigger than you,” Jin points out. “And so has most of Japan.”

Junno grins. “KAT-TUN love attack!” he declares, running across the stage to join the others.

“I’m good over here,” Ueda announces, but he looks considerably happier.

Koichi screeches, but his wails are interrupted by laughter so nobody’s too worried. “Help,” he gasps, straining his neck to look at Tsuyoshi.

“They’re _your_ kids,” Tsuyoshi says amusedly. “And that’s only half of them.”

“Thank god,” Koichi sputters. “Get off of me, brats!”

Jin, Kame, and Junno explode into giggles, and when Koichi can finally move enough to function, he can’t keep the smile off of his face.

~*~*~*~

Ueda sees Ryo coming before he even looks up. Damn Maru for deserting him in favor of… well, Ueda isn’t quite sure where the hell he is. But he knows where _Ryo_ is, stalking towards him, and that alone gives him indigestion.

Ryo’s expression is kind of weird, like he wants to snarl but stopped himself halfway through. He holds a steaming paper cup out at Ueda and says, “Here.”

“Here, what?” Ueda snarks. “I’m not drinking anything you give me.”

Ryo sighs. “It’s just. You look cold. Maru – my Maru, not yours – spent a lot of time boiling the water on the gas stove and I don’t think it should go to waste.”

Ueda reaches for the cup and examines the contents. Flashing his eyes up at Ryo, he hisses, “Tell me the truth.”

“Okay, it was mine,” Ryo admits. “I took one sip out of it, but I didn’t spit in it or anything, I swear.” He leans down and points to where Subaru is entertaining some of the older juniors by telling jokes, really dirty ones if the scarred look on Nakajima’s face is anything to go by. “That guy will be the first one to rat me out. Go ask him if you don’t believe me.”

“Why don’t you want it?” Ueda asks curiously.

Ryo shrugs. “I’m not a big fan of instant cocoa. I prefer the real stuff.”

“And you call _me_ the princess,” Ueda comments with a small smirk.

“Just drink it,” Ryo orders. “And don’t say I never did anything nice for you.”

Ueda takes a tentative sip, and when he doesn’t keel over dead, he nods. “Thanks.”

It looks like Ryo might smile, at least until he chuckles mockingly and declares, “Indirect kiss! God, Tatsuya, if you wanted to kiss me, all you had to do was ask.”

“Get the fuck away from me,” Ueda says calmly, taking another drink for effect.

Ryo winks and returns to assisting Subaru in traumatizing the kouhai, and Ueda can’t help but be amused by how lame Ryo’s attacks have gotten. He watches Ryo make a very vulgar hand motion, earning a smack from Subaru and a correction, and suddenly Ueda is filled with warmth.

Oddly enough, he doesn’t think it’s from the cocoa.

~*~*~*~

“Are you going to follow me around all night?” Tsuyoshi asks irritably, spinning around to stare Koichi down.

“No,” Koichi lies, stepping up on his toes so that now _he’s_ the one staring _Tsuyoshi_ down. “What happened to all of that supposed tolerance you have for me?”

“Tolerance ends at ten p.m.,” Tsuyoshi points out, pulling out his phone for emphasis. “See? It’s past eleven.”

“Give me that,” Koichi says, snatching the phone from Tsuyoshi before he can protest. He pushes some buttons and then presents it back to Tsuyoshi, his trademark grin gracing his face. “Merry Christmas.”

“Eh?” Tsuyoshi scrolls through the menus and frowns. “What did you do?”

Koichi winks and starts to walk away. “I finally gave you something you’ve wanted for ten years. Ja.”

Tsuyoshi stares after him as he wanders aimlessly around the candlelit Dome, wondering who else Koichi could possibly hang out with until it occurs to him that he should check his contact list.

When he sees the new entry, he can’t help but laugh. He immediately brings up a text message and types “it’s about time, asshole” with a :Þ face. It’s not until the message actually sends that he notices exactly _how_ Koichi named himself in his phone.

He considers renaming him, but for some reason it stays. The fans will find it interesting, to say the least.

Thirty seconds later, his phone beeps. Tsuyoshi catches Koichi’s eye from across the room where he’s lecturing Subaru (Nakajima looks grateful) before he glances at his phone.

_Your gift for me better be something I’ve always wanted too._

_Asshole._

_From: Prince Koichi-sama._

~*~*~*~

The only time Kamenashi is ever cute is when he’s sleeping, Jin thinks. Especially when it’s so cold, he’s snuggled up in his blanket with his knees pulled to his chest, using his coat as a pillow and twitching every so often like a puppy who’s having a particularly active dream.

Jin wonders what Kame dreams about now. He knew before, when they were kids, but that was a long time ago. Long before Jin’s hiatus, before the debut, even before Koichi, Jin and Kame were friends. Kame still had his ugly baby face and Jin’s hair always looked like he stuck his finger in an electrical socket, and they were inseparable. Jin wants to say that he doesn’t know what happened, that they just grew apart, but he knows better.

“Ne,” he says, nudging the only part of Kame that’s exposed – his nose.

Kame whines and opens his eyes, recognizing Jin and making a face. “Don’t you have someone else to annoy,” he says irritably.

“Do you remember the first time we slept away from home?” Jin whispers excitedly, replacing Kame’s makeshift pillow with his lap and pulling the blanket back far enough to run his fingers through Kame’s bangs. “We were going across the country with KinKi Kids to backdance for them. You were so scared and couldn’t sleep until I did this.”

“I was younger than you,” Kame says defensively, but makes no effort to push Jin away.

“You still are,” Jin points out. “Only we’re grown now and don’t need that kind of comfort anymore.”

“We don’t?” Kame asks thoughtfully. “I think no matter how old one gets, they can always use the kind of comfort that only an old friend can provide.”

“Old friend, huh.” Jin chuckles and moves on to the rest of Kame’s hair, smiling when Kame almost purrs in his lap. “Is that what I am to you?”

“I don’t hate you, if that’s what you’re asking,” Kame says, turning onto his back to look up at Jin upside-down. “We’ve both changed – we’re not the same naive children we once were.”

Jin doesn’t respond right away and Kame doesn’t push him. Jin has his own blanket and covers himself as he lies down perpendicular to Kame, making sure not to upset his ‘pillow’, and he stares up at the ceiling of the Dome that’s barely visible in the candlelight. “Did you miss me when I was gone?” he finally asks.

“Idiot,” mutters Kame. “Of course I did. If you ever leave again, I’ll kill you.”

Jin laughs. “Fair enough.” His eyes light up. “Hey, did you hear someone was getting off in the bathroom earlier?”

Kame cracks up, falling into a hysterical laughter that Jin hasn’t seen or heard in years. He can barely control his breath enough to sputter out, “Who-who do you think it was?”

“I don’t know,” Jin says honestly, raising an eyebrow at Kame’s reaction. “Do you know?”

Kame flashes Jin an upside-down grin. “Yup.”

Jin flails, grabbing Kame’s face with both hands and leaning down to glare hard into his eyes. “Tell me! I had to witness it, dammit. _I_ should have been the first to know who it was.”

“You are,” Kame says simply. “You witnessed it for a reason, Jin.”

“What’s that?” Jin exclaims. “How can I be the first person to know if _you_ also know?”

“God, you’re stupid.” Kame leans up on his elbows, twisting his back enough to look at Jin properly. “I know it’s been awhile, but I thought you’d at least recognize my voice.”

Jin gapes for a second, then stutters. “It was… and you-you knew I was there? And you still -” He makes a sound like a deflated balloon. “You did it _because_ I was there,” he finally concludes.

Kame smirks, not his slutty stage smirk but the one that always told Jin that he was most definitely up to no good. “Some things don’t change.”

~*~*~*~

Ryo is in the middle of telling a particularly juicy story about Tegoshi’s birthday when he gets a text from Koyama. “‘Outside the side entrance, now, don’t tell anyone’,” he reads out loud. “Oops.”

Luckily, no one’s paying attention except for Maruyama, who doesn’t talk much anyway and when he does, no one cares.

“Stupid group can’t live without me,” Ryo mutters as he gets up, figuring that this counts as ‘telling someone that you’re leaving’ and not even trying to be inconspicuous as he exits the building.

The sight before him makes him laugh so hard that his stomach hurts.

“It’s not funny!” Shige exclaims, except that his tongue is stuck to a pole so it comes out garbled. Being from Osaka, Ryo understands him.

“How…” he starts, taking in Koyama’s raised eyebrows and shaking his head. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.”

“Can you handle this?” Koyama asks frantically, flailing his arms. “I left the kids with Taguchi to have a smoke, um, an hour ago.” He scratches his head guiltily and gives Ryo puppy-dog eyes. “Please? I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to hurt him.”

Ryo folds his arms and hesitates, which Koyama takes as a yes and darts inside.

“Fucker,” Shige mutters.

Ryo sighs, surveys the situation, and finally shrugs as he steps up to the pole and unzips his pants.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” Shige screeches.

“There’s no hot water,” Ryo says logically. “This will have to do.”

“I will bite it off!” Shige declares. “Don’t underestimate me, Nishikido!”

Ryo considers this, his fingers lingering on his belt as he takes into account Shige’s terrified eyes and his own attachment to little Ryo. Inevitably the zipper goes back up, and Shige’s exhale of relief makes a visible white cloud that would probably be more profound in Ryo’s mind if he were a profound person.

“Okay, fine.” Ryo kneels down until he’s eye-level with Shige, leaning his head against the very cold pole. “If you tell anyone about this, I _will_ kill you, and I’m not kidding.”

“Ditto,” Shige replies.

“Whatever.” Ryo examines Shige’s tongue and nods to himself. “Now, what you’re going to do is pull back as far as you can. Like that- damn, you have a long tongue. Okay, now if you move, I will kill you for that too, because then _my_ tongue will be stuck as well and we’ll have to text Yamapi, who will tell _everyone_ , and then we’ll have to kill _him_ and NewS will be no more and you won’t have a job because you suck.”

It takes Shige a second to comprehend all of this, but when he does, his eyes go wide. “You’re going to -”

“Would you rather I piss on it?” Ryo asks sharply. “You know, for as smart as everyone says you are, you’re pretty fucking stupid.”

Shige starts to protest, but then he remembers that his tongue is stuck to a pole and he has no room to argue. Instead he squeezes his eyes shut and prepares himself for what could possibly be the worst moment of his life, save for that time he went to Koichi-san for help with his dancing.

Ryo doesn’t waste any time getting started, and while it feels pretty weird, it’s not nearly as bad as the alternative. The tip of Ryo’s tongue outlines where Shige’s is stuck, and he concentrates on trying to figure out the physics of what is happening to keep his mind off of the fact that it’s actually _happening_. Ryo’s saliva must be melting the ice on the pole, and the pressure he’s applying is helping to slowly detach the muscle. (Is it a muscle? Shige’s not sure. He’ll have to check Wikipedia later, after he bleaches his entire mouth.)

At any rate, Ryo’s a genius, because after about four cycles around the perimeter of ground zero, Shige’s tongue is off of the pole and back into his mouth. He opens his eyes and looks everywhere but at Ryo. “Thanks,” he mumbles, his tongue completely numb and his body unnaturally warm.

Ryo grunts his acknowledgement and heads for the door without a glance in Shige’s direction. Shige wonders if they’ll ever speak of this again – probably not, but he thinks he respects Ryo a little more now.

Somewhere in the distance bells ring, and Shige is struck by sadness because he’s out here by himself, at least until he sees the bundled man coming towards him in the snow, dragging what looks like a giant bag on skis behind him.

~*~*~*~

With the hushed voices and sleeping juniors, the midnight bells are easily audible throughout the interior of the Dome. Looks are exchanged nervously, and several things happen simultaneously at once:

– All of Arashi exchange kisses, PG-rated ones on random areas like the bottom of an elbow or that part on the top of the head where all the hair goes in opposite directions and it kind of looks like a bald spot. Aiba, who’s rather ambitious, licks his bandmates on the eyelids. Sho jerks his head up at the last minute, and that’s the end of that story. Nobody’s surprised, and Ohmiya figure if Sho and Aiba are going to do it, they’re going to do it too, because Ohmiya trump all.

– Massu kisses Tegoshi on the nose, and Tegoshi giggles. “Pass it on,” Massu whispers, and Tegoshi crawls across the floor to catch Yamapi off guard. This starts a chain reaction that manages to make its way around NewS minus Shige, crossed over to Kanjani8 by Ryo, and attempted to cross over to KAT-TUN by Yoko, who gets flicked in the ear by Junno and returns to K8 with this absolutely heartbreaking look of rejection on his face. K8 take pity on him and let him kiss them all, on the cheek, except for Hina who gets it on the mouth and surprisingly doesn’t push him away. Nobody’s surprised about that either, and the remaining five members make a human barricade around them to give them some privacy because that’s how they roll.

– Takki and Tsubasa share a quick peck on the lips, not caring who sees or what they think. That’s all it is, though, because they have the rest of their lives to explore _that_ part of their relationship. They’re in no particular hurry.

– After doing his part to bridge the gap between his two groups, Ryo heads towards Ueda like a man on a mission. Ueda halts him before he can do anything and throws the empty styrofoam cup at his head. “You already got your ‘kiss’ from me, asshole,” he spits, but Ryo ignores him and Ueda really doesn’t mind.

– Maru regards the sleeping Koki and presses his lips to his forehead, grinning to himself because he knows damn well he’d get punched if Koki were awake. Maybe next year.

– Jin and Kame are nowhere to be found, and the only person who notices this is Yamapi, who’s sad for about two seconds until Shige bursts through the door and announces, “Look who’s here!” He wakes up everyone who’s sleeping and interrupts everyone who’s ‘celebrating’, but that’s okay because the shivering visitor who braved the storm is none other than _Uchi_ and, more importantly, he brought Christmas cake.

– Thirteen people glomp Uchi while five others tear into the cake. Domoto Koichi smiles warmly from the sidelines and wonders whether he should make the announcement regarding the fate of Kanjani8’s pink ranger or just wait until tomorrow night’s show.

– “Does it count as a kiss if your lips don’t touch?” Shige asks Koyama seriously, and Koyama shakes his head without any indication that he thinks it’s the strangest thing Shige’s ever asked him. Shige doesn’t quite believe him, but he wants to and exhales in relief. “Thank god, ’cause if that bastard had stolen my first kiss I would have kicked _your_ ass because it was totally your fault for leaving me out there with him, and besides, it should have been you anyway-” and before Shige can realize what he just said, Koyama shuts him up and he forgets that Ryo even exists.

– It takes Tsuyoshi entirely too long to find Koichi, but the bells are still ringing and it totally counts, dammit. Koichi’s in the middle of talking to someone, identity unimportant because Tsuyoshi has finally figured out what Koichi’s wanted for ten years and he’s not going to waste a single second more. The floor behind the first row of seats serves the purpose and Tsuyoshi has enough foresight to place his hand behind Koichi’s head to break the fall, but that’s about it as he for the most part lands on Koichi’s mouth and his conscience flies out of his ear. Koichi makes a little surprised noise but lets him carry on, reciprocating even, and Tsuyoshi’s last coherent thought is how his present totally tops Koichi’s this year. Tsuyoshi for the win.

– Sated and curled up in each other’s arms, Jin and Kame share a midnight kiss that nobody else will ever see. They both know it won’t work out, _again_ , but for this one shining moment in time they’re Akame. “Sing to me,” Kame says softly, and Jin immediately croons out the first thing that comes to his head – Silent Night.

– Junno sits by himself and looks around, seeing everyone with their chosen midnight partner or crowded around Santa Uchi, and he kind of regrets pushing Yoko away, even if he only did it because his bandmates would have beat him up if he even _thought_ about continuing the trend. He sighs dejectedly, his happy pills finally wearing off, and he’s seriously about to cry when there’s a presence next to him. “Nobody likes me either,” MatsuJun whispers, appearing more like Momo than Domyouji, and Junno lights up like, well, like it’s Christmas morning.

~*~*~*~

Ryo plops a Santa hat on Uchi’s head and looks up at him defiantly. “I will have you know that I risked my life sneaking backstage where the staff is supposedly sleeping, and I had to watch _old people kiss_ just to get this hat for you.”

Uchi blinks. “I _skied_ here in the freezing rain and snow.”

Ryo looks unimpressed.

“ _And_ ,” Uchi continues, a smirk forming on his face, “I had to watch you and Shige -”

Uchi is harshly cut off as Ryo’s hand flies over his mouth, glaring at everyone in attendance, daring them to say a word.

Of course, it’s K8, so they all team up to pry Ryo away from Uchi and restrain him. Shige buries his face in Koyama’s shoulder as Uchi retells the story with vivid details, ignoring the murderous look on Ryo’s face.

Meanwhile, Uchi is handing out the essentials: blankets, girly candles (“They’re my mom’s, I swear”), dirty manga, and – of course – cake. “Where did you get all of this shit?” Yamapi asks impressively, his mouth full.

“Santa Uchi has his secrets,” Uchi sings. “Ho, ho, ho!”

“You got the ‘ho’ part right,” Ryo mutters.

Uchi winks.

While everyone is preoccupied with Uchi’s ‘presents’, Ryo leans over and whispers, “I _know_ you didn’t ski here from Osaka.”

“You’re right, I didn’t,” Uchi replies calmly, smiling at the sleepy juniors huddled off to the side, pointing and snickering at the manga.

Ryo takes in account the satisfied look on Uchi’s face and frowns. “Do you know something I don’t?”

“All I know,” Uchi says wisely, like a man beyond his years, “is that Christmas miracles really do happen.”

~*~*~*~

Morning brings forth electricity, heat, and every snow plow in Tokyo. Reporters from television and radio stations want to interview the stranded idols to see how they “weathered the storm,” which even Junno gets tired of hearing after the sixteenth time.

An extra rehearsal is called in lieu of last night’s interruption, to the delight of absolutely no one. Those who didn’t sleep well sneak a nap backstage whenever they get a chance, even if it’s just five minutes between performances.

The older groups show up at their scheduled time and, after Nagase points and laughs at Koichi for a full five minutes (official reason unknown, but everyone has a pretty good idea), they go straight to the dress rehearsal without a break. Surprisingly, the backstage area is the most peaceful it’s ever been, and even the most high-maintenance divas (re: Kame and MatsuJun) are in unusually high spirits.

While KinKi Kids are starting off the Christmas medley, Kanjani8 sneak outside and form an arsenal of snowballs, which they use to plummet anyone and everyone. When it’s time for KAT-TUN to join the two on stage – a last-minute switch due to the reunion of the two groups – they’re completely drenched, and Koichi and Tsuyoshi can barely control their laughter enough to sing.

As Arashi and NewS take the stage, KAT-TUN retaliate by replacing Kanjani8’s hair gel with colored spray. Ordinarily there would be much reprimanding when K8 comes out in a rainbow of bright neon hair, appropriately enough matching their ranger persona (somehow Yoko got spared), but everyone’s so impressed that KAT-TUN actually worked together without fighting that they let it slide, and besides, Koichi takes full credit for it and nobody is about to argue with him.

The show comes and goes, the highlight of course being Uchi flailing out on the stage – complete with hot-pink hair – in the middle of K8’s performance and screaming “Tadaima, minna-san!” There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, whether in the audience or backstage, and Uchi happily took his public beating by all seven of his bandmates for not telling them about it in advance.

~*~*~*~

After it’s all said and done, KAT-TUN as a whole exit the building together, huddled up in their coats with Koki hovering close to Maru.

“So, um,” Kame says uncomfortably, closely examining the snow-covered bushes. “You guys want to get some coffee or something?”

Junno’s the first one to agree, followed by the others. They duck into a nearby shop, empty due to the late hour, and spend the next couple hours catching up on all of the stories that nobody cared enough before to hear.

“Hey Jin,” said Koki suddenly, tracing the rim of his cup with his fingers. “I want you to know that I admire how you apologized to Koichi. I don’t think I could have bowed down to him like that after all the hell he put you through.”

“I was a rotten kid,” Jin says, shrugging. “I know now that he wouldn’t have had to go to such lengths if I had just listened to him in the first place. And thank you, Koki. It was long overdue, but I’m glad it finally happened and I’m _really_ glad we can share the same stage again.”

“As proven by your waterworks earlier,” Kame teases.

Jin snorts. “Because you weren’t _bawling_ last night.”

“You guys,” Maru says slowly, eyeing each of them in turn. “I think we’ve finally grown up.”

“Even Jin,” Ueda adds, bowing his head in mock congratulations. “Welcome to the world of adulthood, boys.”

Jin blows his straw wrapper and hits Ueda in the nose. “Just because we’re older doesn’t mean we can’t have fun,” he points out.

Ueda sighs. “I spoke too soon.”

“Well, as Christmases go,” Junno says, stretching his arms over his head. “This one was… um…”

“Eventful?” Maru suggests.

“Full of surprises?” Ueda offers.

“Fucking _cold_ ,” says Koki.

Kame and Jin exchange a look. “Scandalous,” they say together.

All six of them laugh.

“It _was_ pretty fucking cold, though,” Koki counters, glancing sheepishly at Maru. “For awhile, anyway.”

“Not nearly as cold as last year,” Jin mutters.

“I thought it’s warmer in L.A. than it is here?” Junno asks quizzically.

“That’s not what I meant,” Jin says, and for the first time in years, KAT-TUN share a real, genuine smile.


End file.
